I recently read that the Florestan Trio has decided to end its
illustrious career, with each member embarking on his/her own
new adventure. If so, it will be sad to see them go as this
CD demonstrates their forte in material not usually associated
with them. Although their recording of French trios, including
the Ravel, has been widely hailed, they are probably best known
for their work in the Classical and Romantic periods. They also
come up with a good deal of competition in the particular combination
of selections on this disc. I can say straightaway that they
have nothing to fear, even from the Russian artists for whom
these works are second nature.

Shostakovich’s First Piano Trio was one of his
earliest works, a student composition. Its short duration and
early opus number belie its stature. It is a very well constructed
work in one movement in sonata-form with memorable themes. It
may sound a bit like Rachmaninov in its lyricism, but also has
the genuine Shostakovich stamp where the music becomes more
agitated. The trio in its present form is a reconstruction assembled
from autograph sources, with the last twenty-two bars of the
piano part provided by Boris Tishchenko, one of Shostakovich’s
pupils who also orchestrated several of the master’s song-cycles.
The Florestan Trio brings out both the drama and the lyricism
of the work in a marvelous performance.

Shostakovich’s Second Piano Trio, on the other
hand, is one of the greatest masterpieces of his maturity and
has received countless performances and recordings by Russians
and non-Russians alike. I compared the Florestan with the Borodin
Trio on Chandos, my benchmark for this work. The differences
between them are similar to those of the string quartets as
performed by the Borodin Quartet and the Emerson Quartet. Where
the Borodins in both cases wring out every drop of passion and
even despair where it can be found, the Emersons and Florestan
are more content to play the works for their purely musical
value. That is not to say that they lack drama or that the Borodins
play loose with the scores. It’s just a matter of a difference
in approach. I would not want to be without the real Russian
flavor that the Borodin Trio provides and if I had to choose
only one recording I might want to stick with theirs. However,
the Florestan Trio’s account is so exciting and so well
played, that it too must find a place at or near the top of
anyone’s preferred versions. One thing that is particularly
noticeable concerns their tempos. In every movement they are
faster than the Borodin Trio. So while the Borodin takes 29:33
for their performance, the Florestan clocks in at 25:04, quite
a difference. One could justly claim that their second movement
is more allegro than allegro non troppo as marked,
and their finale is fast for an allegretto. Yet it works
for me, even if third movement largo lacks something
of the power of the Borodin. The Florestan Trio conveys all
the necessary bleakness of the work and that is what counts
most. From the very beginning with the highest cello playing
against the lower violin and the piano to the Jewish dance of
death in the finale that Shostakovich later quoted in his Eighth
Quartet, the Florestan does not disappoint in any way in this
superb performance.

In between the trios comes one of the composer’s late
works, which he composed upon cellist Rostropovich’s request
for his wife, Galina Vishnevskaya, to perform some vocalises.
The resulting song-cycle of Romances on Poems of Alexander
Blok is one of Shostakovich’s most profound works
and one that epitomizes the loneliness and premonition of death
pervading much of the composer’s late compositions. Though
the cycle is scored for soprano and piano trio, that combination
comes into play only in the last song, entitled “Music”.
The first romance, “Ophelia’s Song”, is for
voice and cello, followed by “Gamayun, the Prophet Bird”
for voice and piano; the next, “We Were Together, for
voice and violin; then, “The City Sleeps” for voice,
cello, and piano; “The Storm” for voice, violin,
and piano; and “Mysterious Signs” for voice, violin,
and cello. While the prevailing mood is one of solitude and
intimacy, the work also builds up a real head of steam in two
of the songs, “Gamayun” and the fifth song, “the
Storm.” For me, this cycle is the highlight of the CD.
Susan Gritton does magnificent work in depicting the various
moods of the songs, from the quietness of the beginning and
warmth of the third romance, “We Were Together,”
to the elemental power of the “Storm”. The songs
were written with Vishnevskaya’s voice in mind and her
recording with Rostropovich et al is undoubtedly authoritative.
However, I must say I prefer Gritton, whose voice is lighter
and straighter than Vishnevskaya’s. Vishnevskaya becomes
a bit too histrionic for my taste in the more dramatic sections
of the cycle, while Gritton certainly is not lacking in power.
As far as Gritton’s Russian pronunciation is concerned,
there are no worries there either. It is excellent, with only
some of the consonants swallowed by the acoustic. These songs
have received a number of highly regarded performances besides
Vishnevskaya’s - Joan Rodgers with the Beaux Arts Trio
(Warner) and also with the Bekova Sisters (Chandos), and Elisabeth
Söderström with Vladimir Ashkenazy and colleagues
(Decca) come to mind. I have not heard them, or at least not
recently enough to remember, but I cannot imagine anyone better
than Gritton here.

In conclusion, this CD is worth every penny for the Seven
Romances alone, but the trios can also compete with the
best of past recordings. Hyperion’s production is up to
its usual high standard, with excellent booklet notes by Robert
Philip and a cover illustration of Viktor Vasnetsov’s
painting of the prophet bird, Gamayun.

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